50: Endorsement

Su Jixing: "You gossiped about the boss and it even trended on hot search topics. You still haven't apologized? While the boss might not have seen this news yet, hurry up and call him to apologize. That way, he won't say anything to you."

Su Jixing knew Chen Ting wasn't a petty person. He had watched the entire interview; Lu Qingyu just liked to gossip a bit and hadn't said anything he shouldn't have. Su Jixing made Lu Qingyu call partly out of politeness and partly to teach him a lesson so he wouldn't gossip about everything.

Su Jixing urged him repeatedly, so Lu Qingyu said, "Fine, I'll call."

On Chen Ting's side, ever since Lu Qingyu fell in love with working at the office, Chen Ting had fallen in love with going to clubs for foot soaks.

While he was having a foot soak, Lu Qingyu suddenly called, and Chen Ting picked up.

Su Jixing thought Lu Qingyu would apologize directly, but to his surprise, the first thing Lu Qingyu said was:

"Boss, congratulations! You're on the hot search topics."

This "congratulations" stunned not only Chen Ting but also Su Jixing.

Chen Ting hadn't seen the news yet, so naturally, he knew nothing.

Su Jixing mouthed the word "apologize," and Lu Qingyu nodded to show he understood.

Chen Ting: "What hot search topics?"

Lu Qingyu: "Boss, I went out for a meal today and met a few young fans. I heard them talking about you and thought I'd investigate your image in their hearts. Later, those fans were interviewed by a reporter, and both you and I ended up on the hot search topics."

Before Chen Ting could even think about what Lu Qingyu had discussed with them, Lu Qingyu continued, "Boss, I really admire you. In the eyes of the public, you are truly capable, low-key, and mysterious."

Lu Qingyu showered him with praise first, making Chen Ting feel a bit light-headed with pride.

Chen Ting: "Sigh, it's just a hot search topic, nothing big. It's a regular occurrence for me. I've grown indifferent to it; the content doesn't matter."

"On the other hand, you are currently in the rising phase of your career. hot search topics can be good or bad; you must stay steady and maintain a calm mind."

Lu Qingyu: "Boss, you're absolutely right. I feel the same way. Whether a hot search topic is good or bad, just act like it doesn't exist."

"As expected of the boss, your mindset and grace are truly admirable. Boss, are you coming back today? I can stay and work overtime with you."

Chen Ting's head buzzed at the mention of overtime. He started a company to make money, not to be a corporate slave.

"No, you should also go back and rest early. It's exhausting to attend classes every day. Have Brother Su get you something delicious to nourish yourself; you're still at the age where you're growing."

Lu Qingyu: "Okay, Boss."

Lu Qingyu hung up, leaving Su Jixing's mind completely blank.

What did Chen Ting just say? To get Lu Qingyu something delicious to nourish his body? Pfft, Chen Ting should see Lu Qingyu with a large meat skewer in his left hand and milk tea in his right; what other artist eats like him?

Lu Qingyu: "Brother Su, get me a large braised pork shank tonight."

Su Jixing: !!! "Do I look like a braised pork shank to you?"

Chen Ting wasn't usually a boss who pampered his artists. Why was his bottom line so low when it came to Lu Qingyu? Should he talk to Chen Ting? This kid looked well-behaved, but he was actually hard to manage and very cunning.

After hanging up, Chen Ting also opened Weibo. He wanted to know why the public praised him for being low-key and mysterious. After seeing the entry related to himself, he clicked on it.

After watching the video, he fell silent.

Damn it, the so-called 'low-key and mysterious' meant they didn't know if he was secretly married with a child or if he liked men, didn't it?

He thought back to the call with Lu Qingyu just now. That brat is truly crafty.

Lu Qingyu landed an endorsement. Su Jixing had specifically gone out to secure this over the past two days: a domestic trendy sneaker brand called "Freedom."

The Freedom brand had been established for over forty years and was a pure domestic product. Their shoes were of high quality and looked good. As long as you didn't mind them being old, you could wear a pair forever. No one had ever seen a Freedom sole wear out; their main selling point was durability.

The spokespeople they hired were usually B-list celebrities or higher. Lu Qingyu was very popular right now, but he hadn't been tested by the market yet. Being able to secure such a resource was thanks to Su Jixing's top-notch professional skills.

Early in the morning, Su Jixing brought over forty pairs of shoes to Lu Qingyu. These were sample shoes sent by Freedom, to be worn for today's outing.

Su Jixing had someone take out all the shoes for Lu Qingyu to choose from. They were mostly flat shoes and casual shoes; they had even sent different colors of the same model.

Su Jixing: "All of this year's new models have been sent over. I'll put them on the shoe rack for you; wear whichever you like."

"Pick a pair from these two colors. This is a new model that's about to be launched. We'll wear this out to shoot the commercial today."

Su Jixing picked up two pairs of unreleased Freedom flat shoes. Both had white bodies, but one had a translucent sky-blue sole, while the other was pale pink.

Lu Qingyu tried on one first and then nodded, "Yeah, they really are comfortable."

Su Jixing also highly approved of the brand: "Of course. Their insoles even have a patent."

Su Jixing told Lu Qingyu to pick the shoes while he went out to make a call. When he returned after the call, he was stunned.

Lu Qingyu was already dressed and ready to head out with Su Jixing.

Su Jixing: "You're wearing them like that?"

Lu Qingyu took two steps: "Is it not okay?"

A conflicted expression appeared on Su Jixing's face: "It's not that it's not okay..."

Lu Qingyu: "Then let's go. It'll be congested if we're late."

Lu Qingyu took the lead, and Su Jixing sighed before following him.

The Freedom team was setting up a live broadcast site at their downtown store. Lu Qingyu was to broadcast live there for an hour before going to shoot the commercial.

Sun Yiru was the Project Team Leader in charge of the entire event's planning. Looking at the setup, she didn't dare relax for a second because this event was truly important to her.

Freedom had also taken a risk in choosing Lu Qingyu as their spokesperson. The proposal to invite Lu Qingyu was made by Sun Yiru herself, while the other teams had three other proposals, all inviting B-list stars or higher.

She thought her proposal wouldn't be adopted, but surprisingly, it passed.

Freedom was an old shoe brand. It was very popular when it was first founded, but as time passed and Freedom failed to innovate internally, it had almost gone bankrupt a few years ago.

It wasn't until the CEO's daughter took over and steered Freedom toward the younger demographic, hiring new designers for trendy styles, that Freedom slowly came back to life.

However, compared to those foreign brands whose shoes cost seven or eight hundred, or even over a thousand, and broke within a year, Freedom's competitiveness was low.

After analyzing the market reasons, Freedom also began making Trendy Brands and hiring high-traffic spokespeople.

When the proposals were submitted at the meeting, Sun Yiru's was opposed by many.

Even though Freedom almost went bankrupt, the people in the company felt their standards shouldn't drop. They had previously hired B-list artists or higher, so they should look for someone at that level again.

When Sun Yiru made this proposal, Lu Qingyu was participating in the first episode of Music Partner. After listening to the song moonlight over ten times, she made up her mind to nominate Lu Qingyu.

She felt that although Lu Qingyu's current popularity and development hadn't reached Freedom's standards, sooner or later, he would become someone Freedom couldn't keep up with. Inviting Lu Qingyu now was like buying stock in advance.

Sun Yiru didn't know how much benefit her proposal brought to Freedom; for the next ten years, it was equivalent to buying insurance for the company.